


Family

by crystalfox



Series: Dovetail [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: AU, Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 06:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13541865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalfox/pseuds/crystalfox
Summary: Luke and Lando discuss children.





	Family

The first time Luke and Lando seriously discussed having children, it was because of Ben. They had been looking after the 5 year old for a day while Leia and Han were busy. They had often babysat him and enjoyed being the fun uncles. But as Ben had grown older, he seemed to have two modes - sullen silence or constant questioning. That day, he was on mode two - questions, questions questions.

"What's that? - Where are we going? - What does that do? - Why is that like that? - Who's that? - Why? - How? - What?"

It was relentless but they were good at being patient with Ben and attempted to answer his questions as quickly as possible before he moved on to the next one. He didn't seem that interested in the actual answers, more interested in the asking of the questions.

In an attempt to wear him out, they took him to a local playground. It was a large, complex place with various things to climb, hide in, slide down, swing on. Divided into different zones - space station (pretend ships included), underwater (complete with small waterfalls), desert (surrounded by a sandpit containing tools to make sandcastles), castle (featuring slides inside the turrets), jungle (with real vines and sweet smelling flowers), and a maze made of low hedges. It was the favourite place of every child in the surrounding area and Ben was extremely excited to go. He ran off immediately into the space station area, jumping inside a pretend x-wing where he proceeded to make 'flying noises'.

 

* * *

 

 

"This was a good idea, a great idea actually." Lando said as he and Luke sat down on a bench.

"I am full of great ideas, as you know." Luke replied as he shuffled closer to Lando. It was a warm day but Lando still put his arm around Luke's shoulders, pulling him close.

They sat quietly for a few moments, relishing the lack of questions to answer, watching the children play.

Luke put his head on Lando's shoulder, sighing gently.

"Alright?" Lando asked, squeezing Luke's shoulder briefly. "Don't tell me he's tired you out already? It's only 11:30."

"Heh. No. I was just thinking...."

Lando waited for Luke to continue, prompting him when he didn't. "About?"

Luke sat up and turned to face Lando, frowning slightly. "What do you think about kids?"

"Short. Not the best conversationalists. And don't get me started on their style...." Lando smirked and then turned serious. "I was wondering when we were gonna talk about this."

"You've been thinking about this too?" Luke raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, of course. Especially when we look after Ben. I wonder....what it would be like if we had our own kid...or kids."

"And....?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Sometimes I think it would be amazing but sometimes I'm just happy it's the two of us."

Luke nodded slowly, thinking over Lando's words.

"I feel the same way. Lately, I've been going back and forth between wanting kids and not wanting them."

"Maybe...maybe there's something in that?" Lando asked tentatively. "I mean, perhaps it's good we're on the same page even if that page is us both being unsure?"

Luke shrugged, glancing away, "I guess so."

Lando nudged him, "It's good we're talking about this. But that doesn't mean we have to make a decision right away."

"I know....I just, don't like being indecisive."

"What?" They were interrupted by Ben, he had appeared out of nowhere, standing close to them with a curious expression on his face, "What does that mean?"

Lando smiled, "Nothing, kid. You can't be done playing already?"

"I'm not." Ben announced seriously, "I just wanted to tell you I'm going to the jungle now."

"Sounds like a real adventure, be careful!" Luke joked, smiling at his nephew.

"I'm a powerful Jedi, I don't have to be careful." Ben spun around and disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

"Yes you do!" Luke called out after him, but Ben was gone.

"Right, because you're so careful, all the time." Lando said sarcastically. "Luke 'careful' Skywalker."

"Hey, sometimes I can be." Luke laughed.

The previous conversation seemed to be over, so they lapsed back into comfortable silence, relaxing together on the bench.

 

* * *

 

 

Ben was in crying, almost screaming. It was unclear why but Lando and Luke managed to determine that the cause of the tears were another boy, a vine they both wanted to swing on, and probably tiredness. After separating the two boys, Ben had stomped his feet, cried a bit more, and given a rather dramatic version of events interspersed with hiccups. It soon because obvious that Ben had been the one to push the other boy off the vine, and Luke and Lando gave a quick apology to the boy's mother before prompting Ben to apologise to the boy himself.

"Time to go, I think." Luke announced, picking up a sniffling Ben who was close to calming down. "You know, great Jedis share."

"I -" _Hiccup._ "Don't - wanna!"

 Lando patted Ben's head comfortingly, "Kid, sharing is good. Gives you a chance to make new friends."

 _Hiccup_. Ben screwed his eyes shut and snuggled closer to Luke, unwilling to talk any longer about the situation.

"Conversation over, I guess." Lando laughed, bumping his shoulder against Luke's.

They walked out of the playground swiftly, deciding that Ben could use some lunch and perhaps even a nap. Soon, it was as if the jungle incident had never happened.

 

* * *

 

 

It had been a _long_ day, although Ben had calmed down significantly after lunch, he refused a nap despite the fact he was clearly very tired. Instead, he wanted to ask a million questions about everything from Jedis to spaceships to Lando's capes to food and he didn't seem satisfied with any answer, coming close to another tantrum a couple of times. Finally, it was time for him to go home and after recapping the day's events for Han and Leia, Ben was back with his parents.

"Can't believe they forgot to tell us that Ben doesn't like bedtime at the moment and has been getting overtired." Luke yawned as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, next time I want a full report on his sleeping habits. He'll probably sleep well tonight though, he _must_ be tired after all the crying and questioning."

"I would think so."

They looked at each other, each thinking the same thing, "Drink?" Lando asked.

"You read my mind."

"I'm secretly a Jedi." Lando joked.

They had a ritual of sorts, a drink on the balcony of their apartment on a Friday and Saturday night. It was Friday, and they were both ready for their time together. Their apartment was in a high, sleekly designed block, with only one apartment on each level. The balcony ran the full length of the apartment, giving stunning views of the lush, beautiful forest far below. The forest stretched out as far as the eye could see, exotic birds could be seen flying around, and the sun set at such an angle that it looked as though it was lowering straight into the trees on the horizon. The balcony itself featured a clear, glass partition on the edge that could be raised and lowered depending on the weather. There was also an extra extravagance; a water feature - two minature waterfalls at either end of the balcony flowed water into a thin, shallow pool shaped like a stream. Luke and Lando enjoyed the calming sound of the water and had two comfortable chairs near the middle of the stream.

Already sitting down, Luke accepted the drink Lando handed him, they each had a shot of aged whisky on the rocks.

"So where were we?" Lando asked as he settled into his seat.

"Right...." Luke turned to look at Lando. "Kids."

"Yeah, not that we have to make a decision right now but I definitely think it's something we should talk about more regularly."

Luke nodded, "I do wonder what it would be like to have a family."

Lando didn't say anything for a few moments.

"You know....... I've always thought of the two of us as a family." Lando shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, but Luke could tell he wasn't.

"Of course we are....I didn't mean-" Running a hand over his face, he started again, "We are. I meant I've been wondering about us as parents with a child....that kind of family."

Lando took a sip of his drink, "You'd be a great dad."

Taking in Lando's words, Luke said carefully, "So would you."

"Eh, I love Ben, don't get me wrong but damn, I'm exhausted after everytime we babysit. You seem to deal with him so easily, it's so natural for you. I have to try so hard. I suppose that's what makes me unsure about kids, would I handle it? I mean, it would change everything. I know doubts are normal but, I really have a lot of doubts." The words tumbled out, as though Lando had been dying to get them out for a long time.

Luke snorted, feeling relieved, "You think I'm not exhausted? It doesn't come natural for me, I have to try hard too. I feel the same way." He reached across and took Lando's hand. "We really need to talk more about what we're feeling, especially because we seem to be thinking the same thing a lot of the time."

Squeezing his hand, Lando smiled, "I know we said we need to think about this but I think we've already made our decision."

"Yeah, I think we're the perfect family just the way we are."

They held hands as they watched the sunset.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The playground is inspired by the Crystal Maze. Also, I think i'm kinda bad at writing a 5 year old so I hope he doesn't seem too immature.
> 
> I’m new to writing. Feedback/comments/constructive criticism welcome!


End file.
